Improvement in button-holing attachments for sewing-machines



3 Sheets--Sheet 1.

E. MUREAU. Button-Holing Attachment for Sewing-Machines.

NO. 134,558. Pate-. nted Jan-7, 1873.

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3 Sheets--Sheet2 E. MUBEAU.

Buttun-Holing Attachment for Sharing-Machines.

No. 134,558. Patented Jan 7, 1873.

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E. MGHEAU.

Button-Hnling Attachment for Sewing-Machines.

P tented Jan. 7

AM. PHDTO-l/I'HDGRAPHICCO. MXMsBoRME's PRucEss) U1\TITED STATEs PATENTDrFron.

EUGENE MOEEAU, OF FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUTTON-HOLING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0.'l34l,55, dated January7, 1873.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE MOREAII, of San Francisco, in the county ofSan Francisco and State of California, have invented certain moved byproper mechanism in different directions while the needleis out of thecloth, for the purpose of embroidering, or stitching button-holes, andis an improvement upon a machine for which Letters Patent of the UnitedStates were granted to me, bearing date January 3, 1871, and numbered110,669. It

consists, mainly, in certain details of construction by which the clothis moved from side to side, so as to form the proper stitch, and atthesame time the mechanism advanced toward the head or upper end ofthebuttonhole, at which point the side movement is graduallychanged intoan end movement, and

this again into a side movement after the cloth has passed around andcommenced its return movement to finish the other side of thebutton-hole, as will hereafter more fully'appear.

Referring to the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure,1, Sheet 1, is a plan view of the cloth-plate of a sewing-machinehaving this improvement applied thereto; Fig.

2, Sheet 2, is a bottom view of the plate; Fig. 3, Sheet 3, is a sectionof side elevation of the plate and this improvement; Fig. 4, Sheet 3,

, is a section of side elevation of the clamp to hold the cloth; Figs. 5and 6 are views of the pitman used to convey the motion of the outerslide to the cloth-plate, with its adjustable pin and latch; Figs. 7 and8 are views of the slide transmitting motion from the inside cam-groove;Figs. 9 and 10 are views of the' same, I will now proceed to describefully this improved device with the appliances for carrying it intoeffect.

A is the bed-plate, which is secured to the frame of the sewing-machinein any suitable manner. The mechanism here shown is adapted to theFlorence sewing-machine, and I have employed the lug and socketordinarily used for the purpose of attaching the common cloth-plate onthat machine.

-B is the central opening to receive the bridge of the machine. Theupper part of the bed-plate is recessed near its circumference, toreceive the cam-plate C, and also at the center, to allow thecloth-holder to work at the desired distance from the bridge of themachine. The cam-plate is a ring in which two grooves, a a,

are formed, and the general outline of the inner groove is eccentric totheouter and inner circumference of the cam-plate; and by this groovethe cloth-holder is moved forward and back to form the length of thebutton-holes The outer groove 00 is also made with wavy or corrugatedsides throughout its whole circumference, except for a small distance atone point, I), where the corrugations are gradually diminished to aplain curve from each direction, fora purpose to be hereafter described.The inner groove is a plain curve throughout its circumference, exceptat one point, 11,

where it is formed into corrugations similar to those in the greaterpart of the outer groove, their object being also hereafter described.Theinner edge of the cam-plate is smooth, and moves freely against theshoulder or flange c of the recess in the bed-plate, and the outer edgeis provided with ratchet-teeth d around the whole circumference, whichare engaged by the pawl c, and the cam-plate is thus revolved. A cap ortop plate, D, is secured to the bed-plate A, and keeps the cam-plate inplace. The operating arm or lever E is so mounted as to oscillate abouta pin or stud at F, the opposite end being moved by a stud, f, from theneedle-bar, the

stud enteringand working in a slot in the arm E, as shown at Fig. 3. Asort of toe or cam, G, is secured to the arm E, and this acts on adouble cam, H H, so as to make it oscillate about the pin I on'which itis mounted. The lower end H of this cam strikes a jointed arm, J K, soas to move it forward at each stroke; A piece of hardened steel, L, issecured to the arm J at the point where the cam strikes it, so as tolessen the wear. The end of the arm K is formed into a pawl, g, and aprojecting piece is bolted to this end so as to form another pawl, c,Fig. 1, to one side of or above g. The two pawls engage one in the teethd of the cam-plate torevolve it, and the other in a small ratchet-wheel,h, as shown at Fig. 2. A suitable spring, M, is secured and attached tothe arm K so that the pawls will be retracted, and the arm J willclosely follow the cam H when it moves back, shown at Fig. 2. Theratchet-wheel h is formed with two deep teeth, 2', in succession,followed by one shallow one, j, so that when the pawl enters the deepteeth the corresponding pawl for the cam-plate will enter the teeth d,and thus move the cam forward one tooth each time; but when the pawl gengages the shallow tooth j of the ratchet-wheel the other pawl will beraised too high above the teeth 01 to move the cam-plate, whichconsequently remains stationary. By this device the clothholder will bemoved so that two stitches will be made on the inside and one on theoutside of the button-hole.

The cloth-holder N is formed, as shown in Fig. 4, with a clamp, 0,hinged to it at I, so that it can be shut down to hold the cloth firmlyin place. Two grooves are made in the bed-plate A, and in one of themmoves a slide or plate, P,'which is operated by a short pin or stud, m,which projects from its end and enters the outer cam-groove a in theplate 0. A disk, Q, is riveted to the slide, as shown. It is a leverarranged to oscillate about a point of support at R, and it has a pinconnecting it with a slot in the disk Q, so that it receives motion fromthe slide P. The pitman S has a latch, n, and this is operated by aspring, as shown at Figs. 5 and 6. The latch fits into notches q in thelever B, and when the end of the button-hole is reached the lever ismoved from one notch to the other, the catch a holding it in place. Thismovement doubles the throw and permits theneedle and thread to passclear across the opening to the other side. The pitman also connects thelever with the cloth-holder by a pin or stud, which enters a slot at oneside, and by this means the groove a in the cam-plate gives a sidemotion to the cloth to form the peculiar stitch while moving up the sideof the button-hole. When the head of the button-hole is reached it willbe necessary to gradually change the motion so as to form the stitchcorrectly around this 1 extend across the disk to which it is pinned,

and thus receives motion from the slide. The end of the arm U isconnected by a link, V, with the cloth-holder, and as the eccentricgroove a moves the slide forward or back the necessary travel will begiven to the cloth holder so as to form the button-hole. The slide andcloth-holder have only this regular motion until the head is reached. Atthis point the wavy outline or corrugations of the groove a commence todecrease until the curve becomes plain, as at I), while the groove abegins to assume a wavy appearance, as at b, so that as the movement ofthe cam-plate carries the cloth around at the head the side movementwill constantly decrease, while the end movement will increase inproportion until the stitch begins to form down the other side, when themotions are again reversed untilthe side movement entirely prevailsagain. The outer end of the cloth-holder is provided with a slot towhich a box is fitted. The box moves freely on a stud, u, made fast tothe bed-plate, so that the cloth-holder can take at will a longitudinalsliding motion or a transverse vibrating motion. The lower part of thecloth-holder is bent down so as to reach the 7 level of the recess inthe center of the bedplate, as shown at Fig. 3, and has an elongatedslot, :1 of the shape of an enlarged buttonhole, and the upper surfaceis made concave so as to come to a knife-edge all around, thus bringingthe work close to the bridge. w w are two arms oscillating on the stud usecured to the bed-plate. The outer ends of these arms are broughttogether at the edge of the opening for the button-hole, and are keptconstantly in contact with it by a spring, u. When the cloth-holdermoves and the needle rises the ends of the arms w push the cord formedby the coils around the upper thread to the inside of the button-hole,thus giving it the same appearance as that of a button-hole made byhand. The upper part of the clamp, corresponding with the eyelet orenlarged part of the button-hole, has a cam-shaped aperture, 5, whichserves to guide the arms to 10 when the head of the button-hole is beingformed.

A scale, to, may be formed on the plate so as to determine the length ofthe button-hole.

As will be seen,it will be necessary to enlarge the opening in theguiding-plate of the arms w w where it incloses the head of thebutton-hole so as to allow the arms to spread at this point and notinterfere with the stitch.

The operation of this machine is as follows: The lever-arm E beingconnected with the oscillatin g needle-bar, as before described, it willreceive the same motion, and will, in turn, communicate it to the cam ortoe G. This cam is so formed that when the needle is clear of the clothit will strike the double cam H H, and cause its lower end to strike thelever J, thus forcing forward the pawls g and e on the lever k. The pawle engages with the ratchet-teeth d of the cam-plate O, and thus moves itaround. The inner groove a of this camplate, being eccentric, will, bymeans of the stud or pin Z, cause the slide T to be moved.

out or in, and this will move the cloth-plate N by means of the lever Uand link V. This movement of the cloth-plate is intended to be theholder, and firmly secured by the clamp,

as before described, the button hole having been previously cut; or thecloth may be left whole, as desired, when the machine is set in motion.

It will herebe observed that there will be two motions of thecloth-holderone a regular feeding motion, as has been described, and

which is imparted by the inner or eccentric groove a; while the other isthe motion, for forming the stitch, most of which is communicated by theouter corrugated groove to of the cam-plate. This groove operates thepin on on the slide P, and from this, through the lever R and pitman S,the motion is conveyed to the cloth -holder, as has been previously described,.so that the slide or stitch movement is made. These movementstake placerbe- 'tweenthe stitches, and it will be manifest that thecam-plate and the cloth-holder will remain stationary while the stitchis beingtaken. The peculiar stitch to be taken will govern theparticularmovement of the cloth-holder.

For the present illustration the button-hole stitch is shown andexplained but the device is applicable to other embroidery stitches.

The side movement is made at the proper time by means of theratchet-wheel h.

When the pawl 9 falls into the deep teethi the pawl 6 will be allowed tofall into a tooth, d, of the cam-plate, and thus rotate it; but when thepawl 9 falls into a shallow tooth, j, the pawl e will not reach lowenough to move the cam-plate. It will therefore be easily understoodthat, by arranging theplace and number of the shallow teeth in the smallratchetwheel, the cam-plate can be made to remain motionless at any oneor several vibrations of the needle-arm, and in any order, according tothe necessities of the stitch.

The cloth-holder can take either a longitudinal or a'transverse motion,and it is the combination of these two movements which at everyvibration of the needle-arm sets the cloth in the proper placeunderneath the needle, so that when the cams have made one entirerevolution the perforations in the material present together the shapeof a buttonhole or of. the design, as in the case of embroidering. I

To explain the stitch in detail, the clothholder is so. placed thattheneedle' will go down inside the button-hole at the point or lowestend. The little ratchet hwill be so placed that the pawl g rests in" adeep tooth preceding a. shallow one. The first stitch taken will coilithe under thread around the upper one, as shown. at Fig. '12, and thepawl 9 then falls into a shallow tooth, j, and the second stitch, beingin the same place, coils the under thread again around the upper one. Atthe third vibration of the needle-arm the pawl g, again working into adeep tooth of the ratchet h, will allow the pawl e to engage a tooth ofthe ratchet d, and thus revolve the cam one tooth. This movement changesthe position of the cloth-holder, and the next stitch will be taken onthe outside edge of the button-hole, the under thread being coiled, asbefore, around the upper one. The next vibration again presents theinside edge to the needle but the lower thread has been drawn up by thetension of the upper thread, so that I now have the first completestitch composed of the upper thread lying straight along the edge of thehole with three coils of .the under thread around it. This is continueduntil the button-hole is finished. The handle Z is for the purpose ofmoving the cam-plate independently of the vibrations of the needlearm bymeans of the pawl Y, which engages the teeth (1 of the cam-plate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. The ratchet-wheel h, with its deep and shallow teeth *5 and j,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the doublegrooved cam-plate O and the peculiarratchet-wheel h,

the double pawls e and gwith the operatinglever J K, substantially asherein described.

3. The operating mechanism, consisting of the arm E with its toe G andthe double cam H H, together with the levers J and K and theretracting-spring M, or equivalent devices,

substantially as herein described.

4. The slide 1? and disk Q, with the lever B and the pitman S, incombination with the grooved cam-plate 0, when connected with thecloth-plate and operating to produce a transverse vibrating motion,substantially as herein described.

5. The slide T, with its disk 1" and the lever U and link V, incombination with the grooved cam-plate 0, when connected with theclothplate to produce a longitudinal motion and the necessary throw forthe stitch, substantially as herein described. 7

6. Thearms w.w,"with their spring a, when formed to rest on the clothand throw the cord formed to the inside edge of the button-hole,

substantially as described.

7 The combination of the upper clamp, having a cam-shaped slot, 5, withthe arms w w, as described, for the purpose set forth.

8. The pitman S and latch'a, in combination with the lever B and slotteddisk Q, as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand andseal.

. EUGENE MOREAU. [L. s]

Witnesses:

G. W. M. SMITH, A. G. ANTHONY.

